Blanket Forts
by Cuttlefish
Summary: There are moments you will regret for the rest of your life, and then some you won’t. NearxOC, MelloxNear if you squint.
1. chapter 1

Disclaimer and an Authors Note:

I don't own Death Note.

This story takes place before and after the events of deathnote.

"God damnit!"

"I'm sorry Mello."

"No you aren't you little brat!" Mello said standing up from the table. "Come one Matt, we can play cards by ourselves."

Near looked across the table at Matt. The boy didn't say anything; he just got up and left with Mello, who seemed to be taking losing round after round of 21 rather badly.

'Fine,' thought Near, 'I can play with cards by myself.' After a few minutes Near had already made a very intricate house of cards, he was getting bored. Then, from behind him, he heard a girl's voice.

"No wonder blonde kid is always mad. You cheat."

Near stopped stacking cards

"I don't cheat." Near said calmly, not looking behind him. "I count the cards."

"Yea, you cheat."

"It's not against the rules."

"But it's not how you are supposed to play the game."

"I play to win." Said Near, going back to his card house.

There was a sigh and then the girl spoke again, "It's not the same if you cheat, or sort of but not really cheat."

"Why not?"

"Feels different."

"That's your opinion." Said Near trying to block the girl out. Shouldn't she be out playing like the other kids at whammy's house?

"I suppose it is."

It was quite for a very long time. Near assumed the girl had left without saying anything else and he concentrated on his house of cards. He could hear the other kids playing on the jungle gym. Laughing and screaming and running about, like children should. Like Near never really seemed inclined to do very often.

"Do you laugh like that or are you always quite?"

Near turned around this time, the girl from earlier was sitting cross-legged on his toy box. She was playing with a stuffed sheep doll. Near wondered if she had been sitting there the whole time.

"I laugh." Said Near. "I just don't like to play outside. It's hot and dirty, there are bugs out there too."

"You don't like to play with other kids much do you?" She asked hoping down from the toy box with her doll.

Near paused for a moment, "I like puzzles. Puzzles are a one person game normally."

"Nuh-uh."

"That's not a real word." He had said trying to stack one of the last cards.

The girl pouted. "Fine, but you can put a puzzle together with someone else, and riddles are more fun with two people too."

"That's true." Said Near. "But people are a distraction, they take too long to put the pieces together. Now be quite. I have to get the last card right." Near stood on top of his chair, on his tippy toes, to reach the top of the card house.

"Why? Mello is just going to run in and knock I down." The girl said staring up at the house of cards.

"I doubt that." He said stepping down from his chair.

"We can make a bet." The girl said. "He knocks it down, you have to play with me whenever I want. If I lose, I'll leave you alone."

Near thought about the terms of the deal for a moment and then agreed. "That sounds fine."

"Promise?" She asked.

"I promise."

"You are gonna lose." The girl said laughing as she headed out the door.

"I don't lose." Near said calmly, "I just don't".


	2. Chapter 2

Near stared at the pile of cards scattered on the table and on the floor. Mello stood against a wall smirking.

"To bad your card house had such a faulty foundation." Mello said, pride in his voice as he exited the room. "It's a real shame."

Near wasn't mad that his work was ruined or the fact Mello was so immature. He was mad because the random girl was right. He had just lost.

* * *

Near woke with a start. The girl from earlier was standing next to his bed, sheep doll still in tow. "Get up Near come on, get up, get up, get up!" She whispered excitedly.

Near rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" He asked the girl.

"Who cares?" she said, "We have a night full of adventures ahead of us!"

Near looked at her for a moment before looking at the clock beside his bed. It was half past midnight. Near sighed.

"It's to late to play."

"You said whenever I wanted. You made a deal Near."

Near sat up and looked at her for a minute. She seemed determined to go out and play. She had slipped on her trainers already and they looked a little silly combined with the white nightgown she was wearing, but she didn't seem to notice or care all to much.

"Please Near. You promised."

So, even though he didn't really want to, he got up and out of bed. "What is your name?" Near asked sleepily.

"Aiden."

"Aiden?"

"Yep."

"Well Aiden, what do you want to do?"

"You need to put your shoes on! It's going to be a surprise!"

Near sighed and slipped into his old white sneakers. Aiden ran to the doorway and looked into the hall. She motioned for Near to come over.

"Okay," She whispered once he was next to her in the doorway, "You gotta be real quite okay."

"Okay."

Aiden tiptoed out of the room and Near followed closely behind her. He noted, as they snuck down the abandoned hallway, that she smelt like apples and vanilla. Aiden and Near snuck through the walls of Whammy's house till they got into the kitchen. Then Aiden seemed to be looking for something quite intently. Then he heard a softly whispered, "Ah-ha!"

"What?" asked Near curiously.

Aiden smiled back at him, "We're close."

"To what?"

"The door they never ever lock."

Near was a little taken a back, why would she be looking for a door?

Then it hit him, right in his twelve-year-old face.

"We're sneaking out!" He hissed at Aiden.

"We'll be sneaking back in. Don't be such a wuss."

"I'm not a wuss." Near said defensively. "I just don't want to."

"You made a promise." Aiden snapped at Near. "You have to keep it."

Near sighed, he had made a promise. He had to keep his promises, L told him too.

"Fine." Near sighed. "I'll go with you."

Aiden rolled her eyes. "I bet Mello wouldn't be such a wuss." She had said as she found the back door in the kitchen. It was huge and made of dark wood. Near wondered why he never noticed it before.

"Ready?" Aiden asked him. Near nodded.

And then they left.


	3. Chapter 3

"So," Aiden said as she made herself fly higher and higher on the swing set, "Do you love anybody

"So," Aiden said as she made herself fly higher and higher on the swing set, "Do you love anybody?"

Near was sitting on the swing next to her, gently rocking himself back and forth. "I suppose I do, why?"

"Well you are going to be my new best pal, I need to know these things."

"Why am I you new best pal?"

Aiden dug her trainers into the ground and made herself stop swinging abruptly. "Well," She said, "I don't really have anyone else."

"So you'd rather be with someone who doesn't like you than by yourself?"

Near immediately regretted his choice of words, more so when Aiden pulled her sheep close to her chest and was quite for a really long time. He didn't mean it. He doesn't even know why he said it, probably just to shut her up.

"So," Aiden asked again, ignoring Near's question, "Do you love anybody?"

Near nodded. "Yes, I suppose."

"Who?"

"Mello."

Aiden smiled and nodded. "Best pals know these sorts of things."


	4. Chapter 4

Aiden and Near kicked at rocks as they walked back to whammy's house from the park. The air was cool for mid August and the moon seemed to glow a lot brighter than it had been lately. According to Aiden, if you closed your eyes and took a deep breath you could smell fall coming.

But then again Aiden was the same girl who poked Near in the face because she wanted to she if she could feel him glow.

"Ow," He said rubbing his face. "Why did you do that?"

"Cause you radiate."

"Radiate what?"

"I dunno, you just seem to glow, like people from fairytales, I want to see if you could touch it."

"Well can you?" Near asked annoyed.

"Yes." Aiden nodded.

Near raised an eyebrow. "Really? What was it like then?"

"Magic."

"You can't feel magic."

Aiden smiles and reaches for Near's hand, winding their fingers together like thin lace. His heart skips a beat and he thinks he has caught on to what Aiden had meant by magic and figures maybe this feeling isn't something he's supposed to understand.


	5. Chapter 5

Aiden and Near continue to play in this manner for weeks

Aiden and Near continue to play in this manner for weeks. Sometimes they make blanket ropes and crawl out windows, sometimes they sneak out through the kitchen door. No matter what they do though, they end up back in their beds safe and sound, by four am. Aiden says her brother would call the two of them little sneaks. Near asks about her brother occasionally but Aiden just stops talking. Near doesn't like when Aiden is quite because it means Aiden is sad. When Aiden or Mello or L get sad Near feels useless. He hates that feeling.

One day Near asks Aiden what would make her happier than anything. She hadn't spoken all night, just dragged him from his bed and to the fort they made in the woods behind whammy's house.

"Sometimes," Aiden says quietly resting her head on Near's shoulder, "I don't want to go to school anymore. I just want to stay here forever, in this fort with you, and eat blackberries all day. I'd be happy like that Near, you smell like books and soap."

Near stares at her, "Why forever?"

"Nothing bad could happen to us here. Nobody dies or anything if it is forever."

Near doesn't say anything, he just stares at the stars and Aiden hums made up songs.


	6. Chapter 6

Once Near and Aiden sneak back into Whammy's house, Near doesn't go to bed

Once Near and Aiden sneak back into Whammy's house, Near doesn't go to bed. He goes to Mello's bed, crawls under the covers, and asks him a question.

"Mello? You awake?"

"What do you want Near?"

"Mello," says Near, "Are you afraid of dying?"

"No," says Mello, "We've all got to die anyways. We're only all on borrowed time that'll last until its time for us to go. Poof! And then we're snuffed out, like we weren't even born. That's the way it works."

Privately, Near doesn't like that answer; so, he presses.

"You're not afraid, even a little?"

"Nope," says Mello, "I'm not afraid of dying because I know I'm going to die for a reason."

"How?" asks Near, "How do you know?"

"Just do," says Mello, in that way of his. "The only thing I'm afraid of is being left alone."

"I think I could manage that," says Near, "Death, I could not."

"Perfect opposites, we are," says Mello, "One fears naught but death and the other naught but lonely life. Guess I'll have to go before you, then."

"Don't," says Near a little too quickly.

"Okay," says Mello, "I'll try."

And that's the best, Near knows as he lies next to Mello, that he's going to get.


	7. Chapter 7

Aiden and Near stop sneaking out as much once Mello leaves whammy's house. Aiden says she feels bad that Near doesn't have anybody to comeback too now that Mello ran away. Near doesn't say anything but he knows that Mello isn't running because Mello never runs from anything. Aiden just smiles sadly and mentioned how she kind of liked Mello because he reminded her of her brother. They spend the rest of the day playing quietly.

"If," says Aiden.

"If what?" asks Near, slightly annoyed. They go through this sort of questioning at least twice a day and he doesn't look up from his puzzle.

"If you left", says Aiden, "You'd have to come back."

This is a new one. Near puts down his puzzle piece.

"Where would I leave to, Aiden?"

"I don't know," says Aiden, "But Mello did, so if you do too, you'd have to come back. You'd _have_ to, all right?"

"Of course I would," says Near, eyebrows furrowing. "I'll always come back."

"Just checking," says Aiden, and Near wonders exactly what makes Aiden think the way she does.


	8. Chapter 8

Near looked at the old walls that once held his childhood

Near looked at the old walls that once held his childhood. Whammy's house looked nearly the same, a new coat of paint and a hanging plant near the front door, but it was still the same as he had remembered it, right down to the smell.

Now that Near had become L successor, he felt he needed someone to carry on the name of the great detective if he should pass. Kira was gone, but there are other killers still out there, other mysteries to solve. Near walked to the door and knocked at the worn oak. Near was going to knock again when an older man, maybe about fifty or so, had opened the door.

"Near?" The man asked, "Are you the young man who had called earlier?"

"Yes Mister Warren, I'm Near. I'm looking to find a successor from whammy house." He said, nearly void of emotion For once Mister Warren was glad most 'successors' stayed at the house; this man was not fit for children.

Near had grown into a handsome young man at twenty-two. He was much taller now, and his thin frame and filled out nicely. But he was still pale as a ghost and looked a little manic. His unconventional ways would panic any normal child. At least the workers of Whammy's house could provide a somewhat normal living environment.

"Well Near, would you mind waiting in the main hall, I'm working through some paper work with other clients, it'll only be a minute."

Near just waved him off while making a dismissive sound. Warren glared for a second before excusing himself to the office. Near didn't even consider waiting in the main hall, he instead headed straight for the kitchen.

When he got there he was surprised the old door was still around. It was a lot smaller than he remembered, but it was the same door. He could tell because in the bottom left hand side of the door, just under the hinges, Aiden had scratched their names with a pocketknife. "That way nobody forgets us." She said. "We're here, scratched in the door forever, it's ours, it's always been ours."

Near shook his head and stood up. He hadn't heard from Aiden in years. It wasn't surprising, she had no way of contacting him, he was hidden while he was on the Kira case, and then time just flew by. Case after case came Near's way. He had a duty to help others. But still, he did on occasion wonder if Aiden remembered him.

"Aiden was always more of a trouble maker than you, sir. She grew up quite lovely. Do you two still talk?"

Near was startled, was everyone in the damn place quite as a mouse?

"No, sadly we drifted once I left the house."

"Shame. I took over once Watari passed. So Aiden was about, twelve I think, when I came to the house. A nice detective adopted her a few years later, special case guy I believe."

Near raised an eyebrow. "She was adopted?"

"Yes," Said Warren, "She was about fifteen when she left this place."

"Oh." Said Near, he shook his head, he didn't come here to see what and old playmate was up too. He came to find a child who could live up to the great detective legacy L left to him.

"She works at a cute little bakery in London. Nice place, she brings cookies to the kids once in awhile. It's very nice of her."

"I'm sure." Said Near. "Anyway, I'm here for a reason Mister Warren."

"Of course sir."


End file.
